news

Video: Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa talks concussions, doesn’t want to be ‘poster boy’ | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

Vaseline November 12, 2024

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 11: Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins warms up prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on November 11, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa opened up about the multiple concussions he’s suffered and his process of returning to the field ahead of Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.

“It never stuck in my mind that I ever thought about retiring,” he told ESPN’s Jeff Darlington (3:45). “Whether the doctors told me that or not, it would have just been information for me. With what I was doing week to week, I’m here every day and it’s a no-brainer, like what am I work hard for then?”

He also said doctors never told him to retire.

“I can tell you what I don’t want to be,” Tagovailoa added. “The poster boy for concussions. That’s for sure.’

Jeff Darlington @Jeff Darlington

In his first extended one-on-one interview since his latest concussion, Tua talks about the Dolphins’ season and the factors that played a role in his return to football.
From ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown: pic.twitter.com/oE538GvEDl

Tagovailoa suffered a concussion during Miami’s Week 2 game against the Buffalo Bills and subsequently missed the next four games before returning for a Week 8 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Dolphins went 1-3 without him and entered Monday’s game against the Rams with a 2-6 record, but the quarterback’s health was a bigger concern than the overall record given his history.

He suffered two confirmed concussions in 2022, one of which came against the Cincinnati Bengals and forced him to leave the field on a stretcher. That goal came just four days after he stayed in the game on a hard hit against the Bills.

Additionally, he suffered a concussion during a Week 16 game against the Green Bay Packers but remained in the game. The extent of the injury was not revealed until the aftermath of the game, and he missed the rest of the season.

Tagovailoa played all seventeen games last season, but his health was again a major problem in early 2024.

Despite these concerns, he explained that he was never told to retire and is now back on the field to lead the Dolphins to better performances throughout the season.